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The Art of Focus

The title for this inspirational piece is a straight steal
from the editorial in the New York Times
by David Brooks.Although I don’t always
agree with Brooks, I find him a thoughtful, relevant writer.Much of what he says is so open to spiritual
interpretation and development.Perhaps
that is why I enjoy his challenges and contributions.So when I read his title, “the Art of Focus,”
I ploughed into the editorial.I was not
disappointed.

His opening sentence captivated me.He confesses, “Like everyone else, I am losing the attention war.”While Brooks is a bit younger than I am, he
can remember the pre-social media days.He knows life before Facebook, Twitter, email, etc.Without putting a value judgment on these
versions of social media, Brooks knows, as I do, that life was different
then.I certainly don’t look back to
those times as “the good old days.”In
fact, I like the immediacy of interacting on Face Time with my distant
kids.But with Brooks, I realize there
are claims on my attention that did not used to be there.

Brooks
continues to confess that he has heard the sermons against multitasking, but
acknowledges that he is unrepentant!Then he nails it: “And, like everyone else, these sermons have had no
effect. Many of us lead lives of distraction, unable to focus on what we know
we should focus on.”I resonated with
his sentiments. Then Brooks makes his
clever move---and these are the reasons I like him.He says, in effect, since we are no good at
making changes and learning, let’s turn to the experts, namely, children!

The rest
of Brooks’ thinking is influenced by an interview of Andrew Phillips, a child
psychologist, in The Paris Review.I would like to share the key points, because
they seem so implicitly spiritual.The
first point, in Brooks’ words, is “children need a secure social base” to
pursue their intellectual development.When I think about this in terms of pursuing spiritual development, the
same thing holds true.In my own
development, a community is a huge asset.

We don’t
need a community that dictates dogma to us.But we do need a community that provides a secure social base.We need a place that is loving---that teaches
basic care, allows us to wander without direction or answers, and can be
forgiving when we wander off the communal reservation.Again in our technologically driven world,
such communities are not a given.Our
options are to find one or to create one.

A second
point Brooks make is that “children are propelled by desires so powerful that
they can be frightening.”To this Brooks
added a stunning quotation from Phillips.“Everybody is dealing with how much of their own alivenesss they can
bear and how much they need to anesthetize themselves.”That struck me as profoundly spiritual.How much of my aliveness can I bear?What a question.And how much do I anesthetize?Clearly this is an arena that spirituality
takes head on and without spirituality, probably we are avoiding any heads on
confrontation.In fact, I have been with
people who are dying while avoiding!

I really
liked the next point: “children are not burdened by excessive self-consciousness.”That makes me realize I am not a child
anymore!The upshot of this for children
is this: “Their experience of life is more direct because they spend less time
on interfering thoughts about themselves.”Again, this seems profoundly spiritual to me.One of the key aims of spirituality is to
learn to get out of our own way.In the
old days I would hear the phrase, “let go and let God.”While I don’t really like the phrasing, the
idea is a good one.

So where
does this leave us?I like Brooks’
ending.He talks about finding our
“terrifying longing.”In the world of
innovation where I spend some of my time, the language is to find your passion.Brooks’ final words can lead our final
words.“The information universe tempts
you with mildly pleasant but ultimately numbing diversions. The only way to
stay fully alive is to dive down to your obsessions six fathoms deep. Down
there it’s possible to make progress toward fulfilling your terrifying longing,
which is the experience that produces the joy.”

I can’t
imagine a better way to talk about the goal of spirituality than to talk about
being “fully alive.”To this end much of
the social media, while nice, is superficial and often numbing.To be spiritual does not mean I have to give
it up.But it does mean I will need to
go deeper.I will need to find my
passion.To discover the Holy One can
even turn out to be a terrifying longing.

But it
is worth it.To find that Divine One
will be a different form of face time!As Brooks says, it will lead to an experience that produces joy.Joy is the fruit of the Spirit.To pull this off will require that I learn
the art of focus.

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